After being out of football for more than a decade, it wasn’t a shock to see Raiders’ head coach Gruden struggle in his return to the Silver and Black. His team started the season off 1-9, and they quickly became the butt of many jokes across the NFL. The question many around the league want to know is if the NFL has passed Gruden by after the long layoff.

Former Raiders’ linebacker Bill Romanowski isn’t one of the many who believes this to be the case. In a recent interview with the Jim Rome Show, Romanowksi defended Gruden and said that he has an “opportunity to create a dynasty” in Oakland:

It’s not really fair to judge Gruden based off of his lack of success in Year 1. The team traded away their two best players and Gruden was still getting accustomed to the roster. But the 2019 offseason and regular season will be crucial for the direction of the franchise.

The Raiders don’t necessarily have to be a playoff team next season, but they do need to show improvement. With four picks inside the top-35 and endless amounts of cap space, the Raiders should be able to acquire enough talent for a massive rebuild. But all eyes will be on Gruden to show the rest of the league that he still has “it.”

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